Has a K-drama soundtrack ever pierced straight through your heart? Have you ever wondered how the music could fit a drama so perfectly, and how it was created? An original soundtrack (OST) can add richness and depth to the emotions of a scene, reveal another layer of the story or communicate something viewers may not fully understand through dialogue alone.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with three members of EON MUSIC LAB, a nine-member audio collective whose work spans film, K-drama, K-pop and games, to discuss the collaborative process behind the music.
EON began taking shape about three years ago, when co-founders baron. and Hvdson reconnected and started working together on baron.’s music.
“We were working on my personal artist stuff,” baron. recalled during our interview, describing Hvdson as a highly experienced producer. Their musical preferences proved to be similar, and the collaboration soon expanded beyond baron.’s own work.
“We were like, ‘Let’s write songs’ ... just because we wanted to write songs for the creative element,” baron. said. Opportunities followed as people within their music community began reaching out about other projects.
K-pop became a natural market for them to explore. “A lot of us are Asian, and we grew up in a Western society,” baron. explained. “We kind of have that bridge between the two.”
As the collective grew, it brought together musicians with different creative backgrounds and specialties. Sorah Eun is a film composer, pianist and singer-songwriter who creates music with cinematic scale and emotional depth. Gower Sun is a composer, producer and violinist whose work blends modern production with orchestral textures. Before joining EON, Sorah and Gower had worked together under a local composer.
Other members of the collective include Nyate, a producer and sound designer with experience in J-pop; Dane, the collective’s mixing engineer; Greg Parys, a French-American Grammy-nominated producer based in France whose work spans global pop and K-pop; Safira.K, an experienced songwriter with particular expertise in K-drama ballads; and Heedo Jang, the collective’s graphic designer.
Those existing friendships became an important part of EON’s foundation. Sorah said one of the reasons they wanted to create the collective was that working in the music industry could feel isolating.
“We thought it would be great to have a centralized collective where we could lean into other people’s strengths and share the resources that we’ve all collected ourselves,” she said. “That way, we can help every project that we work on instead of doing it alone.”
Gower described the members as friends first, brought together by their respect for one another’s work and a desire to create something larger than any of them could produce individually.
That combination of friendship, shared resources and complementary skills remains central to EON as the group pursues more commercial projects. It also shapes the collective’s approach to K-pop, where the creative process can differ significantly from working with Western artists.
baron. noted that one of the primary differences is the size of the act. Western acts are often small groups or solo acts known for a very specific sound, while K-pop groups can include considerably more members. This can create a challenge for songwriters and producers to find ways to make each member shine.
K-pop often blends different genres and cultures in the same release, while Western acts are usually known for a very specific or recognizable sound that evolves gradually.
“That's why it helps to have many different people with different biases towards music and different preferences and styles, because K-pop often is a combination of different genres. Even within one track, it might sound like three different tracks,” baron. explained.
That versatility also carries into EON’s work on K-drama soundtracks.
Whether working on a K-drama OST or K-pop track, the team starts with a brief. For K-pop, that may include the concept, themes, musical references and even visuals for an artist’s upcoming release. An OST brief may instead describe the drama’s narrative, characters and the emotions the music should convey.
EON uses this information to draw inspiration and find ways to deepen the narrative through music.
The process does not always begin in the same place. Sometimes it starts with a topliner, a songwriter focused on the main vocal melody who may also develop the lyrics, harmonies, vocal arrangements and ad-libs. In other cases, the production is built first and the topline is added afterward.
Sorah pointed to Safira.K as a songwriter with particular experience in Korean drama ballads.
“Safira is an excellent ballad writer,” Sorah said. “She really knows how to serve the narrative of Korean ballads.”
For some projects, Safira.K develops the initial song or topline before Sorah and Gower build the production around it with drums, bass and strings. The musical approach also depends on the drama’s genre. Sorah said the team’s work for historical dramas has often leaned toward ballads or rock ballads rather than the more EDM-based sound frequently heard in K-pop.
Gower, a violinist with an orchestral background, said K-drama ballads also have a recognizable string quality that feels lighter and airier than a typical score. He grew up hearing many of those ballads because his parents watched Korean dramas.
“Korean ballads have a very distinct string sound that we try to aim for when we’re putting together those productions,” Gower said, describing it as “a very light, airy kind of sound.”
At other times, the instrumental track comes first. The producers develop the chords, rhythm and structure while considering how a topliner will eventually write the lead melody over it.
“In a sense, you’re kind of musically communicating and paving the way for the topliner,” Gower explained.
Lyrics can also be a group effort. One songwriter may complete an entire song, while other projects can involve six or seven people working together to find the words that best express the drama’s emotional tone.
Even after a song is selected, the work may not be finished. In the industry, that selection is known as getting a “cut.” Once the production team places the song against the drama’s visuals, the arrangement or lyrics may need to change.
“When it gets placed, there are always changes,” baron. said. “Sometimes it requires more tension. Maybe this section needs more space.”
The lyrics may also be adjusted at the production team’s request after they see how the song works within a particular scene.
Ultimately, the music must communicate even when viewers do not understand the lyrics or the platform does not subtitle them.
“Part of our job is to make sure that it’s clear enough even to the people who are not exactly listening for the lyrics,” Gower said. “Musically, it has to make sense, even if you don’t understand the words.”
When I asked about their ideal future projects, baron. said he would welcome the opportunity to work with a new group from the beginning and help shape its sound and concept.
“I think that is always the most exciting…to find a sound and a concept going from scratch and really building something that we can give to the world that’s different and unique.”
Gower hopes to continue working on ballads, while Sorah would like to write for a female K-pop group and compose the score for an action K-drama.
Throughout our conversation, EON’s friendship remained as central to its identity as the members’ individual musical skills. Whether developing a K-pop track or creating music to support a scene, the collective draws on those different perspectives to create music that serves the artist, the story and the audience.
To learn more about EON MUSIC LAB, its work and its services, visit their website.